Burned
by Adonis Green
Summary: in the seventh chapter of the House of Night series, Steve Rae will learn the nature of her new imprint, Aphrodite will learn the reasons behind Nyx's choice and Zoe will learn to control her feelings.
1. Chapter 1

**note that i do not own any of the characters in this fiction. this is just my ideas applied in the house of night world created by P.C. Cast and Kirstin Cast.**

**there are some offencive language in this story, i do not mean any harm, this is just what i thought the characters would say/do in certain situations.**

**finally, this is my first fanfic ever so some feedback is really appreciated.**

**enjoy!**

_Aphrodite._

I know you think it is weird I am the one talking to you right now (it is usually Zoe) but I think it is only fair I talk to you, and in detail, about the 24 hours before I died. Moreover, Zoe was unable to do this herself so I thought I'd be the perfect substitute.

It all started when Stark sensed Zoe's not so good feeling. Everyone just left my room after Stark to see what could have happened to Zoe, forgetting the fact I almost died that day, but that is just how things go. She's the one with the power, she's the one with everyone's attention!

I decided to stay in my room because I was still tired and running after the nerd herd is one thing I would never do. So as I waited in my room, I felt a weird white hot sensation on my head. At first I thought Stevie Rae got herself in the sun again. As the hot sensation spread all over my body I remembered that I was not imprinted with her anymore. I went to the closest mirror in the room (fearing the sensation is actually burning my perfect skin). What I saw in my reflection was one thing I never thought possible.

I was scared, I wanted to scream, but instead I involuntary closed my eyes and focused on my warrior. I can't handle this on my own, Darius should be on _my _side in times like this, not after some priestess, who has a warrior and a consort, even though she is our only hope, but I am as important. If it weren't for my visions, she'd be dead by now, twice!

Of course, a while later I was sorry when Darius came to tell me the bad news, saw my face then directly went after the nerd herd to tell them the good news (which I failed to see back then) and then we were all back in my room talking about the new twist which we like to call Nyx's mysterious plan which involved me continuing Zoe's work while holding onto her tattoos and probably her affinities.


	2. Chapter 2

_Aphrodite._

"Ah come on people," I was telling them, "this has happened before."

"Yes," the smart gay said, "but it was never of this magnitude!"

"Yeah" came the twin attack, "Stevie Rae's affinity is nothing compared to this!"

"Plus you're not a vampire, not even a fledgling" the other twin said.

"Look we all know Nyx never takes back what she's already given and apparently she wants us to use those gifts," I said, "plus she must have liked the way I handled things the last time which is why she chose me to do that again!"

The twins were about to attack again when my sweet Darius cut them off "fighting about this will get us nowhere we need to find out what to do now that Aphrodite has Zoe's gift"

"Are we even sure she has all of Zoe's gifts" Jack said.

"Well," Darius said looking at me, "there is only one way to find out"

"NO!" I said quickly, "I can't do that right now, besides we don't have a full circle"

"Technically, we do" I hated when Damian used his superior knowledge voice on us, "this island was actually chosen as the first home to the vampire council because of the power…" the kid went on and on about how this island had too much earth making it possible for anyone, with a bit of concentration, have an earth affinity himself.

"And we can send a prayer up to Nyx when we do the circle" the chocolate Twin said.

"That's not a bad idea twin," the other agreed, of course.

"All right then," I said "take your positions and let's start casting".

"But there are no candles" Jack said.

"Didn't we cover this already," I said angrily, "candles are just ceremonial, we can cast circles without them."

Every one took their place around the circle (it took a little time to figure out which was which) Darius was representing earth, I can see he was nervous, but something inside me was telling me that everything is going to be OK.

I called all elements and every time I did, a nice feeling of the element itself surrounded me followed by a big dorky smile from the one representing it. when I called spirit, a nice soothing feeling went through me, and I liked it even though i felt really tired (I wonder if Zoe feels this tiered when she casts her circle). I sent a silent prayer to Nyx asking her what to do with my new affinities and how to bring Zoe back.

A few moments later, I heard Nyx's voice in my ear _"the council must see the evil Kalona is, the answer is in your humanity. As for Zoe, her comeback is entirely her choice"_ it was strong and confident as always, but something that always surprised me was that her voice was always comforting, no matter how stressed I was before her talking to me, I always felt relaxed after she did.

"I know what to do" I said instantly after Nyx's words and thanked each element starting with spirit, followed by earth, water, fire and ending with air. Even though the circle drained a lot of my energy I felt like I was in charge and I wanted to be for a while.

"Darius, I want you to go to Zoe's room, Stark protected the room enough, he needs to rest before his next shift" before I said any other word he nodded and left the room. I turned to the Twins and said "Call Steve Rae, she should know what happened to Zoe, along with our army back at the Tulsa house of night, but do not let her come here, talk her out of coming and staying by her BFF's side, it's too dangerous here and we need her to help Lenobia back in Tulsa." They instantly ran out my room talking strategies on how to break it to Steve Rae.

Finally I looked at the gay couple "I want you to do a little research for me," I told them "you think you can do a little search about a human's circle" I noticed a little surprised look in his eyes (and an in-your-face feeling hit me, I finally know something he doesn't). "It's an old ritual used by vampires a couple hundred years ago, I want you to find its purpose as I go and talk to one of the council members"

"What are you going to talk about?" Damien said before I left.

"Let's just put it this way," I said, "the research is for you to learn about, I would have explained it myself, but there is no time so I expect everyone else to know about it when I get back."

He just smiled at me as I left the room, I let my instincts guide me around the castle until I found the council member I was looking for.


	3. Chapter 3

_Steve Rae_

It was about thirty minutes before sundown when she got one of the most disturbing phone calls she ever had. It carried bad news about her best friend, and what's even more annoying, is that she cannot be by her side.

Meanwhile, the Tulsa house of night is expressing how much they hate Zoe since they just elected the five new WHZO (We Hate Zoe Organization) "presidents"!

If only they knew what happened to her, that would brighten their day, _more like darken their night!!_ She giggled as the thought ran through her mind. _NO_ she instantly erased that thought and replaced it by another, _only two people have the right to know about this (until further notice of course) and they aren't even human!_

Grandma Redbird and sister Mary Angela, should be notified immediately. And due to Grandma Redbird's condition, such news cannot be delivered by phone, someone should be there to ease the shock.

_I could pass by my new friend while I'm out,_ she thought, _he's probably hungry_. So she decided to pass by the kitchen, grab a couple bags of blood, drop them off and deliver the bad news. _It's gonna be a long night!!_

After the stop at the kitchen, she went to the stables to tell Lenobia that she is leaving for a while, she had a little internal debate whether to tell her about this, but adults tend to overreact, so she decided later would be better than soon.

***

An hour later, she was heading towards the museum, when she smelled something that made her stop in terror, it was a smell she loved, but it only meant one thing. She sprinted all the way to the hut hoping it is not the source of this smell.

When she opened the door, she thought at first it was a sleeping night guard, but after she saw the dark pool around him, combined with the hauntingly beautiful smell she had earlier, she realized he was dead.

She heard a set of footsteps behind her as she turned around, the voice of her imprint said, "oh, you weren't supposed to see that"

"And you think I don't know that!" she said angrily, she did not know if she was angry because this human was dead, or her imprint (the one she was supposed to drink from) was drinking from someone else.

"Calm down," he said, "it was only one human."

"It always starts with one human" she said quickly, "I know that because I was there once. Besides, I thought you would stop drinking blood once you're imprinted to me!"

"You though wrong" he said in the same matter-of-fact tone Damien likes to use, "normally, when a vampire imprints to a human, a human who doesn't drink blood in the first place, the imprint dose not drink blood. I am a creature who drinks blood regularly is an imprint to a vampire high priestess, I still drink blood!" he was looking at Steve Rae's eyes as he talked. "And finally I am only part human, you are imprinted to the human in me, as long as the human in me is not active, you and I are not imprinted!"

Steve Rae was supper angry when she said the next few words, "I knew about the last part, but I thought our imprint will activate your humanity, just like my friends believing in me did." She did not know it but she was screaming at him in an angry couple fighting kind of way.

After a few minutes of silence, she found a little table, approached it holding the bags of blood saying, "you don't need these anymore, but I still brought them for you." She put them on the table and left the room before he could say anything, even though her heart was broken (for reasons she cannot understand), she had more important things to do.


	4. Chapter 4

_Aphrodite _

It wasn't hard to find her. She was near the water where, I suspected, Heath died, Zoe lost her soul and Kalona escaped. She was standing there barking orders at the guards to increase security at the island especially tomorrow, the day that will decide the fate of earth's future.

She stopped short when she saw me, and started saying, "go back to you room, it's not safe for a hu_" she stopped again when she saw Zoe's marks on my face.

"I know," I said, "I heard what happened"

"What did happen?" she asked confused.

"This is where Kalona killed Zoe's consort," I explained, "she answered by attacking him, but the loss of her consort was too hard and she_"

"Collapsed, of course," she cut me off, "I can't imagine the loss of such a bond" she looked away from me for a while, then when she looked back at me, she was still confused and said, "and what about you, you where a human when you came here!"

"Yeah," I said, "I am a human, but apparently, Nyx wants me to use Zoe's abilities while she deals with her loss."

"That's impossible!" she said.

"I beg to differ," I said, "this happened before, although last time I did not understand why it happened, or what to do with it, but this time I do"

"And what in your opinion should be done" she asked.

"I am going to cast the 'Human's circle' tomorrow"

"We can't do that," she protested, "we need a human to cast the circle, a human who knows our ways, and to share our ways with a human can only be achieved by the approval of the entire council, not to mention the only human we can use just died"

"In case you forgot, I am a human, and I am the only one who can do the circle tomorrow," the words rushed out of my mouth, it was like someone else was using my mouth to get those words out, "so I am not asking you, I am telling you so that you won't get surprised."

What she said next surprised me, which proved that first impressions can be deceptive, it also showed me why Nyx wanted me to talk to her, even though she haven't spoken during the meeting (which i thought meant she was siding with Kalona).

"I agree," she said, "the human's circle is the only way to show the council the truth, but you friends seem to dislike him, their emotions may corrupt the circle."

"They won't," I answered "with the strength _my_ circle on _this_ island promises to be, nothing will go wrong."

"I see," she said, "now, I still don't understand why you have Zoe's abilities"

"I will be happy to explain," I said, "but there is no time now, it's almost dawn, and I want two more things of you."

"And what would those be?" she asked with a polite smile that made me feel right in trusting her.

"Your name," I said, "and I want you to tell the other members that I am going to cast the circle tomorrow, but say nothing about the circle, some of the members may think Kalona is telling the truth already."

"It's Ilene," she said, "and of course, I don't trust anyone unless I'm sure they are on Nyx's side, and after today's meeting, the council lost my trust, but you and your friends earned it." She smiled again before she left to the part of the castle housing the council members.

As I headed to my room, I had a vision, but it was nothing like my any of my previous visions. For starters, it brought me good news; it was about Zoe's return. Secondly, it did not make me feel as bad; it did not burn my eyes, or cause a big headache. And I think that it did not make me feel bad physically, because it made me feel bad emotionally, it showed me how I die.


	5. Chapter 5

_Rephaim_

**(this one is my favorite so far, hope you enjoy it too****)**

He did not know why he felt so bad after she left. It could be because she was angry at him, but he is a monster, he cannot let this thing affect him. Or was she right, is he more than just a monster, and she is the only way he can rid himself from this monster inside.

No, he is a monster, he lived like a monster for a very long time, he was treated like a monster by millions (humans and vampires), then why is this one vampire treating him otherwise so disturbing.

_She really is powerful,_ he thought, _my father underestimated her, even though he knew all about her physical and mental abilities, but he lacks knowledge of her emotional abilities._

So what can he do now, stop being a monster, learn to be a "good guy" and live happily ever after!

That is not even an option, he is a monster and trying to be something else would feel so wrong, stay as a monster, and the thought of Steve Rae seeing the monster would kill him. What's left, fly away, his wing was broken where would he go, or die! He is an immortal warrior the only way he would die is if he let someone kill him, and he can't let that happen now that he is healthy enough to fight back.

_I'm doomed! _He thought. Then he remembered something, monsters kill things randomly. What if the random things he killed where not random at all, and if he chose his "random" targets correctly, he will still be a monster, but Steve Rae will trust him again.

Not wasting anytime, he grabbed the bags of blood Steve Rae brought him (he is going to need the energy later) and headed for the house of his first kill.

***

He got to the door of the basement, where the red fledglings lived. As he was about to enter the door, he heard a scream from up above. He remembered that Steve Rae was supposed to die up there that moment, but she did not. And so the angry screaming begins. He climbed up the tower to see a whole bunch of fledglings gathering around the cage he was trapped in that morning.

He needed to plan his attack carefully, he only needed to kill one person, and the others will fall (he would have killed all, but his wounds and Steve Rae won't let him).

"How could that bird betray us like that," Nicole, the leader was saying, "I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him the moment I see him"

_Not if he kills you first_ he thought.

"Calm down Nicole," one of her followers, one he has never seen before said, "we need to think about this, what if this is a sign telling us that we should not kill Steve Rae, what is we should follow her." He was a tall strong young man, one who was fit to be a leader.

"We already talked about this Bard," she barked at him, and somehow, the called Brad shrunk with fear from the girl, and now that he looked at the entire crowd, they all feared her. "Steve Rae must die," she continued, "and we are closer than ever to achieve that, and we don't want your superstitions to stop our progress."

At that moment he knew how to kill her, and it wasn't going to be him who does the killing, he was just the one giving the pep-talk.

"What progress" he said from the shadow of his hiding place, as he moved around not to let anyone know where he was "right now she is at the House of Night guarded by the hundreds of fledglings and vampires walking around. Your chance of killing her is gone." A long moment of silence followed. He was the one who broke the silence when he said, "if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to kill her, she is a very nice young lady!"

"I don't want to answer that question," she said, "especially when asked by a raven mocker."

"What if it was asked by another fledgling?" the boy named Brad said. _Thank you for the support Brad,_ Rephaim thought.

"We've already been through this," she said, but the unconvinced look on Brad's face forced her to go on, "just because she is the only one with a filled in mark, doesn't mean she can be our leader, we need no leader, we are doing fine on our own."

"I don't know much about vampires," Rephaim said, "but I think that young fledglings die if they were far away from vampires. Moreover, if you need no leader, why are you acting like one?"

All fledglings seem to agree on what he was saying. And Nicole seem to notice that because she said, "don't let him get to you; he is just trying to break us up."

"Break your group up!" he said, "I'm just showing your group the fake glue you are pretending to be, the real glue that will hold you together is at the House of Night_"

"Stop talking," her voice grew higher and angrier (and more like Nefferet's when she is mad at him), also the shadow behind her – the one he saw a while back that told him Nefferet was controlling her – grew larger and more visible, "we will kill Steve Rae, and we will kill her tonight even if we have to burn the House of Night to the ground!" she looked at the eyes of all the fledglings around her, but she missed, and turned her back on one, the biggest mistake she did that night.

"That's it" Brad said angrily, took out a rather large dagger from his pocket and plunged it through her heart, "you control us no longer," he whispered to her as she fell to the ground dead. After a moment of silence, Brad's forehead started to glow, soon afterwards, he was surrounded by smoke. When it all cleared out, his forehead showed a filled in red crescent moon surrounded by a unique set of tattoos Rephaim has never seen before.

"Do you see," he said stepping out of the shadow – he knew it was safe now – "Steve Rae survived death this morning, this young man changed when he killed the one you thought your leader, what does this tell you?"

"That our true leader is waiting for us at the House of Night," one of the fledglings said, followed by the agreement of all others.

"Then go to her," he said everyone smiled and started walking out the building. "Brad wait," Rephaim said as the kid looked back at him "I need your help to get me in to the House of Night."

"Why?" he asked.

"Tell no one of this, I am a monster, monsters kill, I need to kill." The kid frowned at him, but the forum turned to a smile as Rephaim explained his plan.


	6. Chapter 6

**sorry it's a short one, but it is a base to the sequel (yes i will right one, if reviews on this one were good, plz write some)**

_Neferet_

She was sleeping when it happened, she felt most of her energy go to her other self (the one controlling Nicole, the red flegling) a few moment later, she felt it.

It was like a giant sword entered through her back and exited from her chest, passing through her heart. she quickly sat in her bed gasping for air, with her hand over her painful heart. Kalona was sitting next to her, he rarely slept during the day saw she was in pain "what is it my love?" he said looking at her worried.

Her answer was short and clear, but she felt it gave Kaolna more questions than answers due to the questions he kept firing afterwords. "we lost Tulsa" was her answer.

"What?", Kalona jumped out of bed surprised, "how?"

"Nicole, the red fledgling under my control just died" she answered.

"What's the big deal?" he said, "we lost the red fledgelings but we still have the House of Night!"

"No we don't!" she said quickly, "if the red fledglings follow the red one to the House of Night, your spell will be broken, even in your presence!" she noticed the confused look on his face, "i've seen their mental abilities, which grows stronger with numbers, even if they don't mean it, when they don't trust you, no one around them dose."

"Well, you can control another and keep them away," he said with a worried tone, "can you?"

"Not any more," she answered, "they are worried now, which makes it harder to enter, plus they already killed me once, do you know what will happen if they kill me again?"

"No," he said, "and I don't intend to, I see you are in a lot of pain now," _finally,_ she thought, _he worries about me for once!_

After a moment of silent thinking, he continued, "I was hoping it would not come to this, I think it's time we go for the spear."

"Are you crazy!" she said looking at him frightened, "the spear will be our end as well as the entire world"

"Not if you protect us"

"I can do that, but then you and i will be the only ones alive, what are we supposed to do with no one to rule over,"

"We will start our own world built by our own rules!"

"Fine," she said, "when do we do this?"

"We start now," he said, "I'll go get the raven mockers who survived to create a diversion so we can get the spear without anyone bothering us"

"What about the council?" she asked

"We already lost a lot," he answered, "I don't want to wait and louse that too"

"And Zoe?"

"She is a little busy right now, trying to find her soul," he answered, "besides, if she wasn't, she will be busy with my children"

"But in that case, you will be leading your children to their death!"

"A necessary sacrifice for a bigger picture!"


	7. Chapter 7

**some of you may see this chapter as Aphrodite being selfish, but this is how i see House of Night, enjoy.**

_Aphrodite _

I spent the whole day practicing the use of Zoe's affinities, and let me tell you, it's not as easy as it looked. It drained most of my energy, I had to drink two bags of blood (they did not taste as good as they used to, but they gave me enough energy) just to use my wind affinity to lift a pencil.

_I can't do this!_ the thought came to my head, _i can't use these powers._

but Nyx gave them to me, why did she do that if i can't use them. Moreover, i never remembered Zoe beeing this tiered from her poweres, even during the first week. So how can she controll these affinities easily, and i can't. Added to that, Zoe always seemed to use up all her energy on her emotions, I mean she starts dating ten guys then loose them all in the same week!

i never had that problem, i never let my emotions block my thoughts, i never had problems making the wisest choice and doing it. So why Zoe, the emotionally unstable one, can use the greatest power ever, when I, the well balanced wise one, can't?

just then the door opened and my beloved Darius came in.

"what are you doing here," I said, "aren't you supposed to be guarding Zoe's room?"

"it's Stark's shift now," he answered, "I was heading towards my room to rest when I sensed your frustration and anger, so I came here to ask whats wrong."

"It's nothing," i said instantly, I did not want him to see me as this week powerless person that he is protecting/loving for no reason.

"It doesn't seem like it," he said, then he saw them the pile of empty blood bags, then he looked in space as in adding up the information he already has, then after a moment of silence he said, "you do know you aren't wonder woman, and there are a few things you can't do, but the things you can are more than enough,"

"but what happens if things go crazy, as usual, and then I would be needed to do the things I can't do."

"I'm lost!" he said looking confused.

i gave a long frustrated sigh then said "tonight I'm going to do a Human's Circle to show the council that Kalona is evel, I expect Kalona to do something crazy and powerful that i can't stop, but everyone expects me to!"

he smiled at me which made me want to hit him, hit him hard.

he, of course, noticed that and said before i can do anything, "no one expects you to do this on your own, that's why you have a circle of friends surrounding you, they are there to help you, you also have me by your side, and i am here to do whatever it takes to keep you safe, and more importantly, happy."

for the first time in a very long time, i felt the urge to cry, but not any tears wanted to fall on my cheeks, happy tears wanted to break free from their prison, so i laid my head on Darius' sholder and started crying. He did the expected, he held me close to him, and we sat there for god knows how long.

***

Ilene came running through my door calling me, Darius and I quickly stood up alerted by the worried look on her face, "you have to come see this!" she said.

we followed her out the room, up a spiral staircase leading to a tower. She stopped halfway up the stairs pointing to a window. We looked outside and what we saw was one of the creepies things i ever saw.

Raven mockers where standing on the wall surrounding the castle and council room, some where flying around, they seemed to patrol the place.

"we must attack before they do," Darius said instantly.

"NO" i said faster than i ever thought possible. Both Darius and Ilene looked at me as if i was a crazy person, "we don't know what they are doing here, they could be announcing the arrival of their father. All we can do is proceed as normal, maybe add a few guards and warriors, or even plan a counter attack, the last thing we need is to be the ones who attack first, Kalona will use that against us in the future."

"A wise decisions young priestess," Ilene said.

Darius mouthed the words "i told you so" but i ignored him.


	8. Chapter 8

_Steve Rae_

She was super angry after what she just saw, she had enough stress for one night, probably would last her a lifetime. Which is why she decided to go for a long walk under the clear starry sky and think about what to do next.

_Telling grandma Redbird may not be a good idea after all, _she thought, _I mean she is not in a condition to handle such news, and Zoe may not be in danger, it would be useless to scare a sweet old lady over nothing!_

As she walked all over town she lost track of time thinking of the worst. What if Zoe died, she can't "lead" the red fledgling on her own, she needs her BFF to help her, (plus Zoe is a natural born leader, she could learn a few tricks just by watching her). What if grandma Redbird reacted to Zoe's death badly, maybe goes back to her coma, or even worse, die herself. What if her stepfather knew about it and and blamed the House of Night for her death, soon all humans will be on his side, fearing their children will die because of us too, and with the House of Night in its current condition, we'll be in the middle of a war.

_Stop thinking of negative things, _she told herself, _all you need to do is hope for the best, and pray for Zoe to come back and save the day, so please Zoe, come back!_

A while later she noticed that a long time has passed since she left the House of Night, Lenobia is probably worried. Plus she can sense that dawn is about an hour away. So she started heading back to the school.

As she got near the school, she noticed something was different, the lights where turned off. That never happened, even though recently all students did was go to class then go back to their rooms, but the lights where always on.

She stopped to think about what this might be but she remembered that dawn is near, she must go in, and fast. as she approached the gate, a strong white light was fixed on her followed by some whispers. A few moments later, someone stepped into the light telling the others behind him, "relax, it's just Steve Rae."

At first she did not know who it was but when he stepped closer she saw his face, out of surprise she said, "Brad, what are you doing here?" and as he stepped even closer, she saw what was on his face, which made her even more surprised and continued, "and when did you change?"

"I changed the moment i killed Nicole," he answered, "and after that, all the remaining red fledgelings noticed she was bad and followed me here."

"And why would you want to kill her?" she asked him.

"Who cares," he answered, "the important thing is that the red fledgelings are under your command again." He turned an stood beside her then said, "we should go back in, the sun will rise soon, which reminds me, could you please shut that thing off, it's burning my eyes!" Steve Rae did not notice the light was still on, she was too surprised.

"Now, may I ask why the super security?" she asked as they walked towards the castle.

"well, let's just say that the red fledgelings coming back is not the only good news tonight." Brad answered.

"Yeah," Kramisha continued, apparently she was on guard duty with Brad, "a raven mocker attacked the school."

Steve Rae stood there frozen solid before she asked, "in what world is a raven mocker attack considered a good thing?"


	9. Chapter 9

_Steve Rae_

"Classes where as boring as ever, so I decided to go for a walk in the gardens," Kramisha was explaining as they walked around aimlessly inside the school, "when I saw all other red fledgelings coming our way, at first I panicked thinking it was a surprise attack on the school."

"Of course when she saw my new mark and did not see Nicole, she started to ask questions," Brad continued, Steve Rae felt that those two where like a couple telling the story of how they met, it made her smile for the first time that day, "so I told her the story I just told you, about how I killed Nicole and got everyone here," he was saying.

"So, Lenobia asked me help them find rooms and such," it was Kramisha's turn, "since you weren't here to do it while she gave her class."

"We where in my new room, Kramisha was filling me in on everything when we heard this noise. We got out of the room following the noise, shockingly the halls where as empty as we got here for it was a noise you can't ignore."

"A few minutes later, we heard students screaming. And as I expected the halls where still empty, so we quickened our pace towards the classes, the source of the noise. when we got there I saw one of the most horrific things I have ever seen."

"The classroom we where looking at was filled with severely injured students some even dead and a raven mocker with bandages all over was the one behind it. He was attacking everyone in sight."

Steve Rae felt angry when she heard about the bandaged raven mocker, for she knew it was Rephaim, her imprint. She did not want to hear the rest of the story, but she has to, she deserevd the good news Brad mentioned earlier.

"I tried to stop the raven mocker," Kramisha continued the story, "but Brad here did not let me, holding my arm and pointing towards the hallway."

"It was filled with students and professors running towards the classroom looking annoyed, but when they saw the raven mocker attacking their friends-"

"Mostly WHZO members and one of its leaders," Kramisha interrupted.

"they got angry, I think they finally realized that raven mockers where bad and their father like them, coz what they did next was the highlight of this night, and this is comming from a guy who murdered somone for the first time about an hour before that incident."

"All students moved quickly some ran to the aid of the injured students, others to stop the raven mocker, which was not that difficult because he was already worn out."

"The professors wanted to kill him then and there, but Lenobia interrupted saying that we can keep him, and question him about the whereabouts of his father, if not so, maybe his plans."

"so he's not dead yet?" Steve Rae finally asked.

"no, he is in the basement tied up the room where old belongings of dead fledgelings used to be, everyone took back their stuff earlyer that night, so we had a big empty room that serves well as a dungeon." Kramisha answered.

"and the injured students?" she asked.

"In the infirmary as we speak," Brad answered, "under the care of volunteer students, last time I checked, the nurses down there where rejecting students, they said the volunteers are higher in number than injured students, which is why I went to gward duty with Kramisha"

"Guard duty?" Steve Rae asked.

"We where afraid another raven mocker would attack so we posted students all over campus to make sure that dose not happen, plus we needed someone to make sure our imprisoned friend dose not escape." Kramish answered.

The mentioning of Rephaim reminded her to ask, "did he say anything yet?"

"Nope," Brad said, "we tried, but he said that he will only talk to the red one, we assumed he was talking about you. We were worried about you, and we were about to send out a search party when you arrived."

"So," Brad said, "are you ready to meet our prisoner?" he was holding a doorknob in his hand when he asked the question. Steve Rae looked around and saw that she was standing infront of the door to the basement. Aperantly she was too absorbed by the story.


	10. Chapter 10

_Steve Rae_

The basement looked much larger than she remembers when she came down here to get her stuff back and it was full of junk. Now it is empty with nothing but a chair in the middle and a dark figure was sitting on it.

"You go to bed," Brad told Kramisha, "you look tiered, I'll stay here with Steve Rae to make sure our guest doesn't try to be heroic!"

"That would be best," she answered, "and be careful," she continued before Brad entered the basement and closed the door behind him.

"Now, it's time to tell you the real story" Brad said as he locked the door and walked to the chair to untie Rephaim, "Care to start your part my friend!" he told him as he removed the ropes from the bird.

Steve Rae was shocked, how long have they been friends? Is this a trap? Her two enemies unite again to kill her? Fearing for her life, she started to back away towards the door when her movement was interrupted by Rephaim's sad, depressed voice.

"I felt bad after you left," he was saying still sitting in the chair refusing to even look in her direction (she sensed his embarrassment, and started to feel sorry for what she has done to him), "very bad, so I felt the need to make up for how bad I made you feel, and the only way I managed to do that is through Brad."

Steve Rae quickly looked at Brad waiting for an explanation, "yeah," he said, "Our friend here was the one who,in a way, convinced me kill Nicole, bring the others here, and grant him passage to the House of Night so he can attack a few students."

"And how dose killing make up for, well, killing?" she was not sure whether to stay mad at him, or forgive him. Because on one hand, he killed, and injured a lot of people she cares about, on the other, he stopped Kalona's plans for Tulsa, and he did it for her.

"I knew that Neferet was controlling Nicole using some kind of spell, and I knew when she dies, Neferet will give up on the red fledgelings making them all yours again. Also, I knew that my father put a spell on the House of Night, that will only be broken by the truth."

"And whats that truth you speak of?" she asked trying to sound cold but inside, she started to lean towards forgiving him.

"That raven mockers are dangerous," he said as he stood up to face her, his eyes where glowing because of what seemed like tears, "even though that its not the case with all of us," she knew he was talking about himself, "but father always said, 'truth is what the teller wants it to be'."

"After this is cleared up," Brad said, "I think that if Rephaim is on our side, maybe the others may join-"

"NO!" Rephaim said quickly, cutting Brad off, "I only did this because she brought the human half out of me, the only way to do that is to be emotionally related to someone else."

A few tears escaped Steve Rae's eyes when he said that even though she did not have the same feelings towards him. "But why?" she asked through the tears.

"Father always told me and my brothers about 'The Red Ones' and the powers they posses," he answered, (the mention of others like Steve Rae did not shock her as much as she expected, for she was standing in the room with another), "but I never knew how truly powerful they are until I met you," he continued, "maybe it is just you, maybe the entire species, you made me want to change."

Crying heavier than ever, she tried to say something but nothing came out, she had nothing to say, how can she tell someone, who just opened his heart to her, that she doesn't share his feelings?

"I know how you feel," Rephaim interrupted her train of thought, "I knew it even when I asked for the Red One to kill me."

"You never told me that," she said angrily looking at Brad.

"I'm telling you now," Rephaim said with a tone as angry as hers (this made her think of how strong his fledgelings are for their imprint to grow this strong), he stopped for a long calming breath (it felt like he was looking for his own emotions) then continued, "It is the only way I can rid you of, for lack of better words, me."

"But how do you expect me to kill you after what you just said?" she said still crying heavy.

"I don't," he answered, "I wasn't talking about you," and he turned his gaze to Brad.


	11. Chapter 11

_Steve Rae_

"I can't kill you!!" Brad answered quickly, "I...I..."

"You can," Rephaim said, "you've recently had experience earlier."

"Okay," Brad said, "If I knew you where gonna ask me to kill again I would never have done it, besides doesn't killing you hurt Steve Rae because of your-"

"How do _you_ know about that?" Steve Rae asked him with anger she was not sure of its origin, maybe Rephaim, but why would he be angry?

"Rephaim already told me about you two, and what happened after we tried to kill you," Brad answered with a hint of fear in his voice. "So you can't die," he continued, "because your death will cause what you are trying to prevent."

"That woun't happen my friend," Rephaim said, "because Steve Rae is imprinted to my human half and that's why I'm going to die a MONSTER!" with him screaming that last word in a war cry kind of scream, he charged with all his strength towards Brad.

Brad jumped out of the bird's way saying, "I can't kill you after all what you have done for us, for me."

Rephaim started his second attack saying, "when are you going to understand that me and my entire race are monsters, and the sooner you learn that the better."

"You are not a monster, and you will never be one to _me_, your friend, and that's what really matters," Brad said dodging his attack again.

"Then you leave me no choice," Rephaim said right before he succeeds in hitting Brad then continues, "kill me or be killed, your choice."

the battle went on for a longer time, soon Steve Rae started to feel Rephaim's frustration, he really wanted it done, and Brad is the easiest way, she had to do something to end this.

"Just do it Brad," she said, "Rephaim wants to die and he will stop at nothing to get it, he will even kill you then go find someone else to do what you failed to, and quite frankly, loosing one of you is much better than loosing both."

after a few moments Brad nodded to her, she nodded back and turned around, she was stressed enough for one day, besides witnessing a murder would give her nightmares for weeks.

A few screams and braking noises later, she felt something, although faint, but it told her that her imprint has died. Instantly she felt a sudden urge to send a prayer to Nyx.

"Goddes of the night I ask of you to welcome this lost sole, for he is a hero of a special type, he did what he dose best in your service."

She stood there for a while silently mourning the loss of a special friend, remembering the first time she saw him, when she saved him, then she remembered how he returned the favor, and then this.

***

There was a knock on the door, "Is everything okay in there," Kramisha's voice came in.

Steve Rae turned around to see Brad kneeling beside Rephaim's body, looking at it with a blank expression. "Yeah," she answered, "we're fine."  
"Well open this door," Kramisha barked at her, "there is something you have to see."

"Can't it wait?" She said, "we're in the middle of something here."

"It can, but you'll regret it."

"Fine," Brad said as he stood up and headed to the door and opened it to see Kramisha in her nightgown without any makeup and with messy hair. "What happened?" he asked her.

"This happened!" she said holding a pease of paper with a few lines written on it. she pushed past Brad and entered the basement to see the blood and the dead body. She only managed to say two words, "what happened?"

Brad was about to say something but Steve Rae cut him off, she did not want anyone to know about what really happened in here, "the bird did not cooperate," she said, "we had to do this." Brad shot her an angry look which quickly turned into understanding.

"Okay!!" Kramisha said trying to figure out what's going on with them, but she gave up quickly saing "whatever!" then she walked to Steve Rae and gave her the paper, "read this," she said, "I wrote this in bed before sleeping then I realized you should see it before I do."

_Plese let this be good news,_ she thought before she started reading.

_'Shadows no longer lie_

_Their cover will finally break_

_They will block the stars in the sky_

_For the sleeper to wake_

_Fire will bring Chaos to the land_

_And Water will oppose'_

"Okay," she said after she finished reading, "I get the part of shadows no longer lying, this is supposed to be rave mockers showing who they really are, but the rest..."

"Maybe we should call Damian, he could help decipher this thing," Kramisha suggested.

"I wish I can call him," she answered when her cellphone started vibrating (She put it on vibrate when she took her long walk) and continued as she pulled it out, "they should be doing a circle at the vamp council by no-" she stopped short when she saw the name on her caller ID.

"What is it?" Kramisha asked.

"It's Jack!" she said, "why is he calling me? he's supposed to be helping with the circle."


	12. Chapter 12

_Aphrodite  
_

Now that the Steve Rae part of the story is over, it is time for me to end mine as well. As for Kramisha's poem, the second part of the first four lines is kinda similar to the vision I had right before dawn, it was one that showed me my death and Zoe's return.

Now let's go back about thirty minutes before Jack's call to Steve Rae, we where all at the council room preparing for the circle. I was very nervous because earlier today I learned that Zoe's affinities do not work well for me and I was thinking of if could actually screw this circle up.

"Light of Truth," Damian said from behind scaring the crap outa me, "very smart."

"Excuse me!" I said not understanding what he was babbling about, as usual.

"The Human Circle," he said in the matter of fact voice I hate so much, "it requests the Light of Truth from Nyx, which I'm sure she'll grant because she's on our side."

"Well thank you," I said, "remember that it is not my first." I smiled my fake selfish cocky smile at him, and he answered by a little chuckling noise which made me feel better.

"All rise for the vampire council." A guard at the door said. I quickly whispered to everyone to take their positions, which they did, as the council members walked in one by one. I saw Ilene walk in last, she gave me a sweet smile before she took a seat at her chair.

"Shall we begin," the council member in the middle said.

I took a deep breath while I waited for the music to start but Ilene cut my concentration saying, "Where is Neferet and the winged fellow, we cannot start without them."

"Very well," The council member in the middle said, "we can wait a few minutes but not more, if they are not here by then, we shall proceed our judgment without them."

_Can this be?_ I thought, _are they not showing up, is this going to be that easily?_

But I should have known better people like me never get good news that easily. One of the security guards posted outside came in running like a maniak saying, "the birds! they are attacking."

everyone in the room, even Darius, looked at me expectantly. I did not know what to, bur everyone expected me to do something, _what am I supposed to do? _I thought, and my answer came faster than the question itself.

"Have you tried to attack or something," Ilene asked the guard.

"We are," he answered, "but they are too many, it's like they are blocking the sky."

_Blocking the sky! _I thought, _It is time._

I looked at my friends one last look and ran as fast as I can out of there. The guard tried to stop me, Darius ran after me, but I knew this is what I'm supposed to do when I left the front dor and closed the door behind me. A couple of raven mockers charged one of the towers breaking a part of it that fell right in front of the door, trapping everyone inside (including Darius).

I ran all the way to Zoe's room to find Stark standing at the door.

"What's going on out there?" he asked.

"Nothing Zoe can't handle," I answered, "which is why i need to see her, and you need to stay here and not let anyone come in."

I pushed him aside before he can ask any other questions, I closed the door and locked it so he doesn't come after me.

Zoe was lying there on the bed lifeless, the look on her face made me want to cry, which I did.

through the tears I said, "wake up Zoe... come on wake up, we need you, I thought that we needed your powers but they don't work for me as good as they work for you. I don't know why yet, but Nyx chose you, and we need your help, so come on, wake up!!!"

I stood there for a while, nothing happened. "Well, If you won't listen to me," I said, "let's see if you'll listen to the elements."

I stepped back from the bed, centered myself, and started calling the elements.

"Air, I ask you to send the sent of blood spilled from the warriors." I felt a little breeze and the smell of the battlers outside all over the room.

"Fire, I ask you to send her a warning of the raven mocker attack." I felt the heat around me.

"Water, I ask you to tell her of the tears her friends have been shedding." I started crying heavier than before.

"Earth, I ask you to send her a reminder of your beauty and strength." the smell of lavender filled the room, it reminded me of grandma Redbird.

"And I ask my Spirit to guide hers back to her body." as I felt my spirit leave my body, I had a familiar hot sensation around my ankles, soon it spread all over my body, I looked to see that Zoe's tatoos left my body (including the new one around my ankles), and they reappeared where they should be.

Zoe opened her eyes, and took a deep breath, I managed to say, "welcome back Zoe" before my body fell to the ground, and I was welcomed by a warm hug from Nyx herself.


	13. Chapter 13

**Now we go back to when Zoe was swallowed by darkness, and see what happened when she got there, and what she did during the 24 hours she spent there. Enjoy.**

_Zoe in darkness_

After I was swallowed by darkness, I was scared; I did not know where I was, and how to get out. Only moments after being swallowed, I saw a bright light forming a silhouette of a woman, soon I was able to see it was Nyx, and she looked angry.

"I chose you" her angry tone was scarier than I ever expected, "out of millions because I saw the strength of your emotions, and emotions strengthen the gifts I give, only I failed to see that you don't know how to control them, at first I thought it was just a phase, but I was wrong."

"But what do you expect me to do with all my emotions working at a maximum at the same time?" I asked as angry as she was, I was angry because she expected the impossible from me, I thought she wanted me to suppress my emotions.

"Use them," she answered, "wisely" all my anger disappeared, she is right, my affinities are stronger when my emotions are acting up on me, the first example that came to my mind is when Kalona killed Heath, I was supper angry, and my gift worked stronger than it ever did.

"I want you to use your emotions wisely," she repeated, "and I don't want them to cloud your judgment like they did earlier with Kalona." Again, she was right, if my anger did not get the better of me, I would not have used all my power and I would not be here.

The look on her face changed, it was like she knew what was going on in my head, and she was happy with the way things are going.

"Now, I'll leave you here for as long as you like," she said after a few moments of silence, "but don't take too long, your friends need your help, as a matter of fact, they are calling for my help right now, I hope the next time we meet would be on good terms." She turned around and started walking towards the darkness.

"Oh," she stopped, "before I go, I need you to understand something. I took Heath because you would have never seen Kalona's evil without his death. This is what I call a necessary sacrifice, the loss of one life for the sake of a thousand." She went on after she finished her words.

After she left, I lost track of time, I still did not know what I should do. I walked around for some time, I found a wall in the process, which I sat on and began to think.

_What if I decided to stay here forever? _I thought, _that would never work, first of all I'd miss my friends, plus this place gives me the creeps. So the sooner I go back home, the better. But when I go back, I go to a place where anything, and everything is possible, and bad possibilities happen more often than good ones, plus I am expected to do a lot of things I don't think I can do. In that case, staying in a dark empty place forever is not that bad. Of course, that is the coward's way out. So Zoe, what are you going to do?_

I sat there for what seemed to be a long time, but I was unable to tell for sure, thinking of my grandmother, how crushed she would be if I don't go back, of my friends, all of them, how they expect too much from me, adding a whole lot of drama to my life (which Nyx seems to consider as a good thing, and I failed to see that myself so far). I felt like Miss Gash, the doll my sister and I used to fight over when we were young, until one day we accidentally tore her in half. This is me torn in half.

A part of me wants to go back home, and another wanted to stay here forever. I had to make a decision and fast, and what happened next, made my decision for me.

A little breeze carrying the scent of blood, stinky blood, came my way, I had a feeling it was raven mocker blood because of what I saw next. I saw a high tower, much like the ones back on the island, burning with a bunch of raven mockers flying around and attacking it. Next, water started to gather around my feet, it smelled like tears. A few moments later, the odd smell of the waters was replaced by lavender, which reminded me of my grandmother, and how I missed her. Then everything got super-fast.

It all started with Aphrodite standing there in front of me, she had my mark, and my tattoos (which is when I realized I did not have them) then the darkness was replaced by a room, and I was lying on a bed in the middle of it. Next I felt the familiar hot sensation all over my body, including my ankles, I quickly looked at Aphrodite to see that the tattoos are no longer on her body.

"Welcome back Zoe" she said before she collapsed to the floor, I jumped out of bed and held her dead body, _why did she do this?_ I thought, _why did she give away her life for me?!_

I started crying when the door opened and Stark stood there shocked.

"Zoe, your back!" he said with a happy expression on his face to which I gave him an angry one.


	14. Chapter 14

**the final four chapters of my story, kinda short, but i think cool, enjoy.**

_Zoe in battle_

"She is dead," was all I can say, "and I was the one who killed her!"

"What!!" he said as he ran to my side and held me in his arms, I missed him it felt like years since he last hugged me, "how could you say that?"

"She died saving me," I said crying my eyes out, "if I hadn't been so stupid, I wouldn't have left, and she would still be her beside me, helping me as always, even though I was hardly ever nice to her."

"No, it's not your fault," he told me, something about his voice always made me calm, "it was her choice, she wanted to _help_ you as always, even though the result was not nice." A moment of silence passed as i cried even more, then he continued, "and tell me, what's so stupid about losing a friend, the same thing would have happened to me if it was Dutch who died tonight, and our relationship is not even half the relationship between you and Heath, maybe quarter!" he finished as he stared into space as if he was trying to calculate the difference.

"I knew you are a softy!" the words got out of my mouth before I could stop them, but he laughed which made me laugh.

This guy is perfect, he always made me feel better, he always knew what to say, and he always knew when to back off. I should be happy to have a guy like him by my side, but I'm not, because I don't want that. That's not actually true, everyone wants that, but I can't have it. I can't handle another Heath dying. I know my relationship to Heath is stronger, and longer lasting, but I got all those feelings towards Stark in such a short time, soon our relationship would be stronger than any other, and I can't lose that, again.

"I know how you feel," he said sighing, I forgot about the warrior's psychic abilities, and how annoying they can get, "and I disagree." He saw the confusion in my eyes and continued, "I am your warrior, and I am supposed to protect you, not the other way around."

"But what if you can't?" I said.

"What? How can you say that?" he said as if what I'm saying is total nonsense, "I'll always be there for you, and I'll always protect you, no matter what."

"And Heath is my consort," I told him, finally expressing how I truly feel, "and he's supposed to make me feel better, but before I left (I did not know yet that I've been gone a day) he didn't, and it felt twice as bad because I loved him. Maybe someday you fail to do your job, and it will hurt three times as bad, because I love you too, and I will love you more when that day comes if we stay like this."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" I can see how hurt he was, and I felt bad too, but I had to do this.

"I…" I was about to say something to lighten the blow, but something interrupted. The room started shaking. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Raven mockers." He answered.

"Where's my circle?"

"At the council room"

"Get somewhere safe." I told him before I left the room. I found a window that is just over the council room. Using my air affinity, I jumped out of the window, and broke through one in the council room, where everyone looked in shock at me which was followed by cheers and hugs from friends.

I stepped back before everyone got a chance to hug me saying, "no time, the raven mockers need to go first."

Everyone smiled at me saying "what should we do?"

First I looked at the council members and the guards, "stay indoors, no matter what." Looks of joy turned into looks of fear, _what did she mean by no matter what?_ I felt they thought. "As for you guys," looking at the twins and Damien, "come with me, I need you to channel your affinities." Then I looked at Jack, "call Steve Rae, and tell her we need her abilities," he smiled and nodded taking his phone out of his pocket.

"But Zoe," Damien said, "the element earth on this island is strong, we don't actually need Steve Rae."

"I'm aware of that," I told him smiling, "but did it occur to you that I need Steve Rae, not her affinity." He smiled back at me.

"Let's go then," I said heading to a staircase, which I felt leads to the highest point in this building.

When we got there, I saw hundreds of birds flying around. I looked at my party, all closed their eyes focusing on their elements. As I closed mine, I felt Steve Rae standing beside me. I did not say anything, I just focused on how good it felt to stand there surrounded by my friends. A few minutes later, I opened my eyes to find the clear sky.


	15. Chapter 15

_Zoe in love_

I don't know exactly what happened to all the raven mockers, but the guards told me they saw the whole thing from the windows, and I'm not sure if they were telling the truth, because what they told me was like something out of a fairytale.

First, they said that the air started to go crazy, winds blew in all directions. Then, lightning started to fall from the sky, but it was not ordinary lightning they said. For starters, there were no clouds, and the lightning turned to fire the moment it touched anything (mostly raven mockers). After that, the water from the sea "stood up" and started grabbing the birds (don't ask, I don't know what they meant by "stood up"). Next, the birds escaped to the trees, away from all the chaos, but the trees themselves started moving, and every bird they touched, they buried underground. Finally, a purple sphere thing started to form around the tower (the one we were standing in) soon it expanded. At first the raven mockers started attacking it, but everyone who did, disappeared. A while later all who remained escaped, with their father, who was holding Neferet, leading them away from the island.

Like I said, something out of a fairytale. But part of me believed the story, because earlier tonight (or yesterday I'm not really sure) Nyx told me that my powers are strengthened by emotions. So let's go back and see how I was feeling. I was grateful because of Aphrodite's sacrifice (I felt her trust), I was happy because my friends where on my side, as usual, I was angry at the raven mockers and their father for all what they did to me. And most importantly, I was in love, with Stark, and I was angry at myself for telling him these awful things. So all those emotions ought to have done something like what the guards told me.

But I actually realized something, my emotions do make me stronger, and what emotion can be stronger than love. So loving Stark as much as I love him is not going to hurt me, it is going to make me stronger.

"I just saw what you did," speaking of the devil! "I can't believe it!"

"I know," I turned around to see Stark standing there as amazing as ever, "the guards just told me, I can't believe it either."

We both laughed, but when our eye met, we both saw the love we had for each other, we both saw how much we wanted to be with each other, and we both saw how much we wanted to kiss, and we did. It felt great, wonderfully great, and more importantly, right. I felt my heart heat up, much like the heat I feel when I get a new tattoo, I'm not sure if I got a new tattoo, on my heart, but I was 100% sure that our love is meant to be.

The kiss lasted forever. At least I wished it would, because Damien clearing his throat, the twins chuckling, and Jack's clapping interrupted us. As we let go I mouthed the words "I'm sorry". "I know" was his answer.

"So," Damien said, "now what?"

"We stay here this morning," I answered, "and at sundown we go home, and we take Heath and Aphrodite with us."

"What?" Shawnee said quickly

"Where is Aphrodite?" Erin asked, "I haven't seen her since she ran off!"

"Let's just say she went fishing with Heath." I can almost see them sitting on the river bank, a fish gets stuck on Aphrodite's rod, she tries to pull it, but falls into the river instead.

"It's too bad she left before she told us about the discount stores in Italy!" Erin said.

"How can you say that twin?" Shawnee said, "Show some respect!"

"I was only joking!" Erin said.

"Well, hats off for the perfect timing!"

I was not paying much attention to the twins' argument, I was concerned with the awkward look on Darius' face. "I have to go," I told everyone, I had to tell him something, the love of his life died because of me. Stark saw me heading to Darius so he stayed behind dealing with the twins.w""the words "terrupted our kiss too, and ntly, right. i it or each other, we both saw how much we wanted to be with each o


	16. Chapter 16

_Zoe in sorrow_

"I know why you're here," he told me, "you came to tell me that she died. I know, I even knew before she did it."

"Did what?" I asked.

"Went to save you," he answered, "I knew she have been thinking about this for a while now, I knew your powers don't work well for her, I knew you had to come back, soon. I just wish it did not have to be this way."

He turned around not letting me see his face, and I don't blame him. A warrior showing a soft side!

"I know how you feel," I told him, "you feel like your heart has been ripped. Half of it is gone, never to return, the other half will stay with you forever, reminding you of the half you lost, also forever, because I lost half my heart before I left (I should really ask how long I was gone!)"

"But you've moved on," he said, "that is something I can never do."

"That's what I thought too," I said, "but after I had time for myself, to think. I saw that death is a part of life; someone has to die, for another to live. I Heath did not die, Kalona would have ruled the world by now, if Aphrodite did not leave, and I say leave because she chose this, this whole island would have been destroyed." I paused for a while during which I saw him pull himself back together. "We are going to stay here today," I continued, "take as much time as you need."

"But first," he said before I left him to ask someone about what happened during my thinking time, "I want to say goodbye." He turned around to look at me when I saw the glow in his eyes caused by some tears. Seeing him like this was weird, Darius was supposed to be this strong masculine figure, crying was one thing I never thought I'd see him do.

"Now that you mention it," I said, "so do I." _The details of the time I was out can wait,_ I thought.

We all gathered to say goodbye to Aphrodite and Heath, even Steve Rae joined by phone (because we won't have time in Tulsa, their parents will take the bodies and host their own memorial service during the day, typical human!!). And what was even more surprising, one of the council members was there as well.

"That's Ilene," Erin told me, "Aphrodite told us that she was on our side."

"Now," Shawnee said, "may I interest you in a slumber party in the twins' room where we will be happy to tell you all the juicy details about the day you missed?"

So it's been a day, just one day. It felt way longer in the darkness. "Nah," I told them, "I think I'll just go to sleep."

"What!" Shawnee said, "You've been sleeping for a whole day!"

"Yeah," Erin agreed, "Don't you think you had enough?"

"No," I said, "my bedtime was more exhausting than you think!"

Okay, I lied, I just did not know how to tell them that I wanted to see Kalona in my dreams again.


	17. Chapter 17

_Zoe in dreams_

I did not know how to call him to my dream. But I was sure I can do it, I have done it before, I think.

I had to see him, I wanted to tell him that he lost, everything (even the House of Night and the former evil red fledglings). And of course I wanted to warn him, that I will get my revenge, I will kill him one day, if not that, I will kill his lover (if he really loves Neferet).

On my third try, I was on the island, in the place I jumped off escaping from Kalona.

"Did it work?" I asked myself.

"Yes it did," I heard his sweet voice from behind me, but this time his voice was like a dagger to my heart.

I turned around to see him, and what I saw made me want to scream. He did not look anything like before. For starters, he was not shirtless in jeans like usual, not even naked, he was wearing a black robe, much like those monks wear. Second, he looked old, really, really old, I can't even describe him. And he was holding some kind of spear, it appeared to be golden.

"So, what do you want from me," he said, "why did you call me here?"

"I wanted to tell you that you lost," I said, "and I win."

"And what makes you say that?" he asked.

"Well, first, I can see who you really are" I answered, "The council knows you are evil, Tulsa is mine again, most of your children have died, and everyone in the vampire world is looking for you, and trying to kill you."

"Okay then," he said, "but you fail to see a couple of things. Firstly, I knew what I was doing when I killed the human boy, I intended to turn the council against me, I have other refuge than Tulsa, I can still have children, and I'm immortal."

"Why don't you just admit it," I told him, "you lost, so why don't you come back here and save us both the trouble."

"Because I didn't lose," he said, "there is one thing you are not seeing." He said waving the spear before he plunged it into my gut.

I woke up fast with my hand on my tummy, which really hurts. I looked down and I was surprised to see that I was cut, bad. _At least he told the truth about one thing,_ I thought, _dreams are unpredictable!_

_**now, if you read this long, and liked what you read, please check major announcement on my profile, thank you for your support**  
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